Founders Doom | Founders Brewing Company

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Doom may be impending but that doesn't mean you have to fear it. A collision of worlds, the intense hop character of our Imperial IPA mingles with the warm vanilla and oak notes imparted from the time spent in our favorite bourbon barrels. Like all good things, Doom comes to those who wait.

Reviews by jjanega08:

A= Pours a totally translucent ginger ale dark piss sort of color with a nice two fingers of head on it that holds nice retention and lacing on the glass.

S= The smell is quite hot to be honest. A lot of the bourbon barrel comes through in the nose. There is a nice hop aroma that comes through as well but the aroma is dominated by bourbon, vanilla, and hot alcohol.

T= The taste is similar to the nose. A little lighter on the alcohol but that may be bacause the hop profile is amplified hiding a bit of the booze. The bourbon comes through greatly and there is a nice vanilla aroma. It actually isn't as bad as I though coming from the nose but I still don't think it's on par with some of the other bourbon barrel IPAs I've had.

M= The mouth is great on this one. Nice soft beer.

O= Founders makes some amazing beers. This just so happens to not be one of my favorites. It's still a solid beer but it's not as mind blowing as I was hoping. This beer is good but not great. Try it and see for yourself. I was hoping for a bit more of a hop punch. Maybe another dry hopping or something. Who knows.

More User Reviews:

Poured from 12-ounce bottle into a snifter. Beautiful deep copper color, with a brilliant white head that settled within moments. The one I sampled was about two weeks past the bottling date. There is a ton of bourbon on the nose and palate, and the alcohol (12.4%) is very prominent. But there is a lot of subtle hop character here. Nice bitterness, not much sweetness, not too tannic, and a clean finish with just a hint of resin on the tongue. Absolutely delicious, and much too easily drinkable for its size. This is not going to have universal appeal by any stretch. If you like bourbon, however, you'll find that the bourbon barrel character works very nicely in this imperial IPA.

T - The presence of the spirit is much more prominent in the flavor but never the dominant player...it sits nicely between the citrusy character of the beer and the wood from the cask. Bourbon hits first followed by the floral and citrus components imparted by the beer with the barrel (vanilla and coconut) finishing things off nicely (4.75)

M - This is where Doom shines...full, creamy mouthfeel that finishes dry courtesy of the hop bitterness and oak tannins. However, it has a full body with an increasing alcohol warmth as it warms, thereby reducing its drinkability (4.25)

O - Like others in this style, there is nothing to find fault with this beer. I absolutely adore Oak/Barrel aged IPAs and wish there were more on the market. Burton Baton (Dogfish Head), White Oak Jai Alai (Cigar City), Hop Crisis (21st Amendment)* and Rumble (Great Divide)* are some (and perhaps all) of the great wood-aged IPAs that I have enjoyed. and I will gladly add Doom to that list. Doom stands to be the epitome for this (unsung style) which features the beer and barrel complimenting one another rather than either one dominating. (4.75)
*Sadly, these are no longer available

12oz bottled on 04/28/17.
Clear amber color with a finger of head that settles to a thin cap. Spotty lacing is left down the glass. Aroma of alcohol, floral ditch weed, bourbon, and some oak. Confusing flavor. Very boozy, the citrus hops are muted and do not combine well the bourbon or barrel. Does have some nice smooth whisky and vanilla notes but otherwise this is a mess. Smooth and rich body. By far the best aspect of the beer. This is a miss. If I want a barrel-aged IPA I will drink Toppling Goliath Naughty 90 or Naughty Temple if they ever brew them again.

Given the high alcohol, I expected little from the head but, while small, it holds up and leaves impressive rings of lace. The liquid is lightly cloudy with a dark gold color.

Low or sweet caramel to the nose. Almost like a pale barley wine.

The flavor is like a barley wine as well except for a well balanced hop presence for bitterness. The finish is literally bitter and sweet. Good carbonation against the obviously thick body. The flavor masks the 12.4% abv, making this a deceptively potent beer. I get rum soaked raisins, salted caramel, and black pepper in the taste. A truly superior beer worth seeking out.

This is a 12oz bottle.
From the back label: "Bottled On: 04.27.17 1601 6 12.4% ALC/VOL"

Appearance: The body is a medium-dark shade of orange and amber. It has a medium head that is creamy textured and off-white. For a beer that has 12.4% ABV it has amazing retention. The beer has very good clarity.

Aroma: There is a light, woody, barrel aroma. It smells a bit like a watered down bourbon.

Taste: The beer has a lot of barrel flavor. There is a lot of bitterness to the beer and it has a strong charred ash flavor.

Mouthfeel: It has a lot of bitterness. The body is light and loaded with tannin which dries up the palate. Dry finish with a lot of remaining bitterness. The alcohol is hidden very well.

Overall: There wasn't any hop flavor or aroma to the beer; it only contributes to the heavy bitterness in the beer. It is a high alcohol beer with loads of bitterness and a nice bourbon barrel flavor. For such a high alcohol beer it is very well done but it just feels over-engineered without any real benefit. It felt a bit more like a bourbon barrel barleywine than an Imperial IPA. It's not a bad beer so I would still recommend it but I think I would only really recommend it to those who either really like bourbon or those who like barleywines.

This beer is amazing. Best imperial IPA ever. Poured fresh into a wide glass goblet. Color is scotch like, sticky looking, molasses like. Fluffy white head slow carbonated, hoppy body. Smell is bourbon barrel with hints of pine citrus and right there and then I knew I was in for a treat. The taste is barrel forward with a bit of bourbon flavor. Love it! I need more! This is better than backwoods when fresh. It is sticky, toffee, molasses, creamy vanilla, dark fruit, oaky, scotch. Doesn't taste like an IPA but has that imperial flavor yet @ 12% abv it is quite smooth. I've read across forums with people criticizing and hating it, don't understand as this stuff is amazing. It's a slow drinker yet so delicious. I must seek out more.

I don't know about this one.
It pours nicely. Copper to amber in hue. Foam is solid, rises well, white, fluffy, some good retention, medium lacing.
Aroma is kind of all over the place. I'm getting a clash of bourbon notes and some piney hops. Then maybe citrus muddled with bourbon.
At first I'm getting some woody oak, then some alcohol heat. I find the piney notes but they are assaulted by the boozy march. I just don't think this is coming together.
The mouthfeel is medium bodied with a lite carbonation.
I just don't think this one is for me.

Glad to get one of the few bottles that Roger has over at Bestway.Poured into an imperial nonic a...like others have notes a honey tinged lighter golden with a nicely formed half finger white head atop that left multiple broken rings of lace behind as it settled.Aromas were lighter than expected but some nice vanilla/bourbon and sweet fruity notes were there,the hops were somewhat subdued giving off light resiny notes.One thing I will say about the flavor profile is that the bourbon barrel is a major flavor component but it doesn't smack you in the face,all the flavors seem to be more subtle but still providing enough.The hops are more leafy and slightly citric,a good shot of peppery spice hits in the back end.Not in your face bourbon or alcohol in my opinion but neither are the hops,a very good beer with out big hops.

The (long-awaited) Doom, finally being bottled (previously known as "Hand of Doom" and only available at the Founders brewpub in Grand Rapids). I was a little less than thrilled to learn about this beer, simply because I'm not a huge fan of the flavor meshing between barrels and IPAs, but I'll never shun anything before trying it at least once. Plus, Double Trouble is amazing, so I owe it to myself to see how this one turned out. Picked up a bottle at my local shop, but thanks to Chris for offering to split his with me.

Doom pours a vibrant amber color with very, very nice clarity. It's capped with a thick and foamy white head - fine bubbled, vibrant, and bright. Retention is very nice and it leaves lots of webbed lacing on its decent down the glass. From the appearance, Doom actually reminds me a bit of Pliny the Elder. A very clean looking (albeit barrel-aged) double IPA. The clarity in this one is truly a remarkable thing.

I can't think of any better way to describe the aroma than to just say it's like stuffing your face directly into a pineapple. Super tropical aroma with a light bit of sugary sweetness. Surprisingly enough, I am picking up almost no bourbon at at all in the aroma. Hell, if it weren't for the very faint vanilla and wet oak hints, I would have no idea that this thing was barrel-aged. I know it only sat in barrels for four months, but I'm seriously picking up zero bourbon on the nose. Nevertheless, the tropical essence is still fantastic.

Holy shit, I don't get it... The nose contains almost no bourbon, but the first sip is loaded with it. Bourbon raids the tongue immediately - it's not really "hot" and doesn't come with a "burn", but the bourbon flavor is rampant on the palate right out of the gate. Needless to say, the fruitiness from the nose is much lower; the taste buds are also picking up some light oak, vanilla, and very faint pineapple. I can honestly say this is unlike any other beer I've ever had.

The hops are pretty much buried beneath all of this other stuff, but they do have a small, leafy and bitter presence at times. Some oaky warmth in the aftertaste with more bourbon flavors. As Doom warms up, the pineapple, tangerine, and mango notes actually get a bit stronger and it tastes a little better in my opinion, but I'm still not really digging the heavy booze flavors meshing with my Double Trouble. Medium-thick bodied, pretty slick on the palate and a little sticky at times; good carbonation for an IPA.

Well, this was weird. The smell was fantastic, it really was. I was more than let-down by the taste, however, as it tasted almost nothing like the smell. The bourbon flavors were coming through a bit too much and shadowing the beautiful tropical fruit notes. I know the bourbon was "supposed" to be heavy seeing as how this is a bourbon barrel-aged beer, but I don't know if I'm on board with this craze just yet. I think I'll stick to Double Trouble.

A: A medium amber with good clarity. The persistent head is off-white and mostly creamy.

S: This smells great almost Christmasy with a strong pine-like hops aroma while the oak is bringing cinnamon, oak and some vanilla to the nose. The hops bring plenty of citrus too just their first impression if more of pine. There is a moderate malt sweetness and a floral alcohol notes.

T: Complex hops, malt and oak dominate with an aggressive hops bitterness, a moderately-strong citrus, pine and herbaceous hops flavor and the oak again bringing a medium cinnamon and oak with some vanilla. There is a decent amount of malt backing up the hops and bringing a moderately-low caramel malt flavor with some sweetness. The balance is fairly bitter and the finish is off-dry. The aftertaste is of citrus hops, hops bitterness and cinnamon. The bitterness has a slightly harsh edge but it's not bugging me.

M: A medium-full bodied beer with a moderate level of carbonation and a some alcohol warmth.

O: A big flavorful bitter beer with a great blend of competing elements that resolves nicely.

On tap at the brewery. It was served in a snifter with a nice 2 finger head. You can pick up bourbon, citrus, and perhaps vanilla on the first sniff. It smelled fantastic and tasted even better. It was very bitter when it was cold but as the beer warmed up it evened out nicely. I could pick up a nice, but pungent citrus taste at first. Then as it warmed I could pick up some vanilla, oak and some sort of buttery taste. I would look for this beer and get it again in a heartbeat.